The present invention relates both to the need to achieve a three-dimensional measurement of the complex amplitude of the wavefront associated with any optical problem in which image quality is essential (e.g. for diagnosing), and to the need to obtain a sufficiently reliable and precise depth map in a wide range of volumes, from a few microns up to several kilometers, and also to the real-time generation of three-dimensional information for 3D television, 3D movies, medicine, etc.